I had to go change my pants.
The insurance industry LIKES the Senate's latest "reform" bill.
WASHINGTON BUREAU -- The Senate Finance Committee has rejected amendments that could have created a government-run health insurance system, and it has accepted an amendment that could let agents participate in a proposed health “exchange” system. [Cowards! Exchanges don't work.]And that, my gentle snowflakes, is exactly why this offering from the delicious Max Baucus should be thrown onto the compost pile. At least there, it could eventually do some good. Remember, if the insurance companies win, we lose.
“We are pleased by the rejection of both the Rockefeller and the Schumer amendments containing public plan options,” says Tom Currey, president of the National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors, Falls Church, Va. “But, we will continue our educational efforts. There are currently three other reform proposals with government-run options, and lawmakers need to understand the negative consequences. A strong private health insurance system is best equipped to provide options for families and businesses.” [Yeah, they have done such a sterling job of it so far.]
The government-run plan is a roadblock to reform,” AHIP [America’s Health Insurance Plans] spokesman Robert Zirkelbach says. “A new government-run plan would dismantle employer coverage, bankrupt hospitals, and add to the federal deficit. The same goals can be accomplished by enacting an overhaul of the market rules and new consumer protections so that nobody falls through the cracks of our health care system.” [Sure, just change the rules & the industry will find ways to go around, over, under & through those rules.]
(National Underwriter, the industry journal)
